Make it Official! Twins 3, Red Sox 1: Pablo Shoves for 12

[Ted Schwerzler]

Seeking a win to push the winning streak to 12 games, the Twins watched Pablo Lopez turn in his best start of the year during his first official Pablo Day. Max Kepler and Willi Castro provided the offense and Rocco Baldelli watched his team draw closer to the 1991 record.

Image courtesy of Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
SP: Pablo Lopez 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (99 pitches, 60 strikes, 19 whiffs)
Home Runs: Max Kepler(2)
Top 3 WPA: 

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

 

Where Art Thou Pablo?
The Twins desperately need Pablo Lopez to find the form that has eluded him to start the year. There have been glimpses of Cy Young caliber stuff, but they have largely been hidden beneath mediocrity. Starting for his first Pablo Day promotion, the Red Sox broke through early. After getting a pair of quick outs, Tyler O’Neill doubled to put Boston’s first runner on the basepaths. Connor Wong slapped a single the other way on a fought-off swing to plate the game’s first run. Lopez labored to put batters away and ultimately needed 25 pitches to make it through the 1st inning. A better pitcher in warmer weather, Mother Nature certainly wasn’t going to be on Lopez’s side Saturday with gloomy skies and just 52 degrees at first pitch.

Working against opener Brennan Bernardino, Minnesota needed an early answer. Jose Miranda got plunked before Willi Castro singled and a wild pitch moved them to second and third base. Carlos Correa’s groundout scored the run and evened things at one through the first frame. A 1-2-3 second inning complete with a Garrett Cooper strikeout made for much smoother sailing.

Kepler Keeps the Lefties Relevant
Minnesota knew Bernardino would work as an opener, leaving the lineup in flux for Rocco Baldelli’s platoon situation. Keeping both Max Kepler and Edouard Julien in the starting lineup, the Twins had a couple of lefties that could be expected to do damage. Launching a solo shot off former Minnesota prospect Cam Booser gave the Twins their first lead of the afternoon.

Through five innings, Lopez had worked past his first inning to put up a dominant showing. Scattering five hits, he had allowed just a single run and one walk while striking out six. Needing a start that combined both his velocity and stuff in a way that turned into a solid showing, Minnesota needed to see this outing.

Working six innings in total, Lopez punched out eight and worked 99 pitches on the afternoon. Pushing the ERA down and turning in an outing that could set some positive momentum, everything about Saturday’s start was a great showing.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, Castro led off with a single before a pair of wild pitches pushed him to third base. Correa then lifted a sacrifice fly to center, giving the Twins an insurance run to make it 3-1. While the Twins shortstop’s batted ball didn’t do damage, the 105 mph exit velocity produced a liner that had an .890 expected hit average.

Duran on Early
The Minnesota Twins found themselves in a situation where Griffin Jax and others could work in high-leverage spots with Jhoan Duran out to start the season. That would allow Baldelli different bullpen strings to pull late in games if he opted to do so. With Boston’s 3-4-5 hitters due up in the 8th inning, the Twins countered with their closer. Although Wilyer Abreu singled, Duran struck out a pair and got a fly ball to end the inning. The outing was his first back-to-back of the year.

Cole Sands took over in the 9th inning and was looking to grab his second save of the season. Having pitched well all year, he's earned these sorts of opportunities. Cooper quickly grounded out, and Sands punched out David Hamilton before Reese McGuire lined out to end the game.

Notes
Brock Stewart, who was placed on the injured list before last night's game, has some positive momentum when it comes to a future activation. While the Twins did an MRI, the thoguht is that Minnesota is simply being cautious. With a desire to avoid further injury down the road, they quickly got him off the roster as he deals with shoulder tendinitis.

What’s Next? 
Joe Ryan takes the hill on Sunday afternoon as Minnesota looks to take the series from the Red Sox and Cooper Criswell. Arguably the Twins' best starter this season, Ryan will be looking at another opportunity to pile up strikeouts and lower his ERA.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

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[BH67]

May we all be immune to triskaidekaphobia tomorrow.

[Patzky]

Some really clutch single pitches today! 

[jorgenswest]

Wow!

• 12 in row
• Castro batting 3rd on a 10 game hitting streak
• Cole Sands the closer in a real save situation

[UK Twin]

Kepler may have hit the go ahead HR but his biggest moment of the day was perfectly reading Smith's line drive high off the RF wall and easily throwing him out at second, turning what was inches from a HR into an out. Made a tough read look easy. 

Nice start from Pablo, Boston made him work but still managed 6 innings of 1 run ball. 

12 wins in a row hasn't been achieved by any Twins team since 1991. It's got to the stage where it really doesn't matter who our opponents were or are during this streak. That's over 30 years ago and that team won the World Series. 

[LastOnePicked]

If only Channel 9 were still around and the Twins were on TV every night. What a wonderful streak. Sure, it started against the dregs, but confidence has been built, and a little swagger matters.

[IndianaTwin]

Duran and Sands not available Sunday. Alcala threw 21 pitches, not particularly effectively. Topa didn’t pitch today, so I have to wonder if he’s activated for tomorrow, with Alcala back to St. Paul. 

[Doctor Gast]

Great game! Keep it rolling! We can do it!

[CRF]

Now THIS is fun!

[twinssporto]

LET"S GO!!!!

[Fatbat]

2 hours ago, UK Twin said:

Kepler may have hit the go ahead HR but his biggest moment of the day was perfectly reading Smith's line drive high off the RF wall and easily throwing him out at second, turning what was inches from a HR into an out. Made a tough read look easy. 

Nice start from Pablo, Boston made him work but still managed 6 innings of 1 run ball. 

12 wins in a row hasn't been achieved by any Twins team since 1991. It's got to the stage where it really doesn't matter who our opponents were or are during this streak. That's over 30 years ago and that team won the World Series. 

1991 was a real GOOD TEAM! These guys are jelling into that kind of TEAM.

[jmlease1]

The wins keep a-rollin'! Gotta love it. Hottest team in baseball, and recovered nicely from the early season blues. Streaks like this aren't easy and I love seeing it. Be awesome if they can take out the BoSox again on sunday and sweep a 4th series in a row.

Lopez has looked good this season and then had the one bum inning that messes up his line and makes it tougher for the Twins to pull out the win. Today he escaped without significant damage and got through his 6 pretty clean. Hopefully he gets on a bit of a roll. We've seen him dominate before, and 8 K's in 6 is pretty fine.

Hope it's nothing serious with Stewart and this is more precautionary than anything else, but the bullpen depth sure makes it less worrisome.

Just win, baby.

[wabene]

Man just another fun game. One of sport's pleasures is watching Rafael Devers strike out, lol. Okert? C'mon I love it! 3 straight sliders.

Only one game back, unbelievable. Maybe the Twins do have a chance in the tough AL Central. Will they ever lose again? (for knocking wood of choice, mahogany)

[Patzky]

57 minutes ago, CRF said:

Now THIS is fun!

It's gone from How will they lose tonight? To who's going to help them win?! Won't last forever but it IS fun!

[USAFChief]

1 hour ago, Patzky said:

It's gone from How will they lose tonight? To who's going to help them win?! Won't last forever but it IS fun!

I don't see another loss on the schedule. 

[Parfigliano]

Haven't heard any talk from the TV bobbleheads about the weak AL Central

[ashbury]

47 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

I don't see another loss on the schedule. 

Expect to see this prediction thrown in your face sometime in August, Pollyanna.  July, maybe even. The long grind gets to every team eventually.

[arby58]

4 hours ago, UK Twin said:

12 wins in a row hasn't been achieved by any Twins team since 1991. It's got to the stage where it really doesn't matter who our opponents were or are during this streak. 

It really shouldn't. Even a team that loses 100 games in a year wins over 38 percent of their games. So, even if you played 100 loss teams through the entirety of the 12 games, they would be expected to win between 3-4. Then, of course, add the fact that Boston is probably going to have a winning record this year and most definitely is not going to lose 100 games - winning 12 in a row is remarkable.

[DJL44]

4 hours ago, LastOnePicked said:

If only Channel 9 were still around

Channel 9 is the FOX affiliate. They were broadcasting baseball this very evening.

[Joe A. Preusser]

I mean, doesn't feel like much of a leap, but I'm calling sweep tomorow. 

March on to 16.

[stringer bell]

Back to the game, Alcalá always seems to leave me wanting more from him. He'll throw a bunch of good pitches and then a fat one. This time, the hardest hit ball hit the high wall and bounced right to Max Kepler and he threw the hitter/runner out by plenty.

Sands as a second-tier reliever still is a stretch to me. His stuff has certainly looked good this year, but I remember too many struggles with command and then laying pitches in the "whomp 'em zone" to trust him yet.

Miranda looks acceptable at third base and is hitting well (he and Castro seem to be on very fortunate streaks right now) and that means Farmer really isn't needed at the hot corner.

[Fatbat]

2 hours ago, wabene said:

Man just another fun game. One of sport's pleasures is watching Rafael Devers strike out, lol. Okert? C'mon I love it! 3 straight sliders.

Only one game back, unbelievable. Maybe the Twins do have a chance in the tough AL Central. Will they ever lose again? (for knocking wood on choice, mahogany)

Aren’t bats made from Ash wood? Lol 

[wabene]

4 minutes ago, Fatbat said:

Aren’t bats made from Ash wood? Lol 

My table is mahogany, bro. But yeah ash would work too. If I can't be part of the solution, I damn well won't be part of the problem.

[bighat]

Twins had men on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out in the 8th and somehow didn't score a run. That's usually the type of thing that comes back to haunt a team. Yet on this streak, the Twins can seemingly do no wrong. 

Joe Ryan on the hill today, you know he's going to be fired up to make it 13 in a row. 

[Patzky]

10 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

Haven't heard any talk from the TV bobbleheads about the weak AL Central

"Loseover country" 🤣

[Whitey333]

Nice job Twins!  12 in a row is awesome.  Let's make it 13 on Sunday.  Go Twins!

[JDubs]

16 hours ago, BH67 said:

May we all be immune to triskaidekaphobia tomorrow.

This definitely marks the first time ever a Twins Daily post made me use a dictionary

[terrydactyls]

Because I'm in New England, I get to watch all the Red Sox games (whether I want them or not).  During last night's game, the two announcers seemed very preoccupied with the sausage.  The had long periods where they were discussing why a team would keep a "rotting" piece of meat in the dugout, why Kepler wouldn't get near it, and how will they get it across the border when going to Toronto.  Now that's some quality broadcasting.

[jorgenswest]

Does our perception of Alcala’s outing change if Angel Hernandez correctly rules on that check swing and he gets out of the inning with a strikeout?

[stringer bell]

1 minute ago, jorgenswest said:

Does our perception of Alcala’s outing change if Angel Hernandez correctly rules on that check swing and he gets out of the inning with a strikeout?

I suppose, somewhat. Hernandez was wrong on the check swing call, but it's only a big deal because of Angel's miserable reputation. It was not the worst call of the game. 

Alcalá has had far too many outings where he throws 15-20 excellent pitches and two or three batting practice fastballs or hung breaking balls for me to trust him. Maybe it's all my perception, but he isn't a guy I trust.